QA: Ben Paxton – 2nd in Men’s Transformation

Today we chat to Ben Paxton who placed 2nd in the Men’s Transformation Category of our New Year 2021 Sleekgeek 8-Week Transformation Challenge.

Give us a short history of your journey to health and fitness before the challenge.

I always used to be very skinny, until I decided to start doing something about it in my early 20s. I started off with the basics of eating some more calories, following a weight lifting program I found online and some USN protein shakes. I kept learning more and improving my diet and exercise. After exercising in my garage for 3 years, I joined a gym and progressed even more. After hitting some plateaus and losing interest I started developing bad eating habits and eventually stopped exercising completely. Over the course of 5 years, I was eating anything I felt for and not exercising at all, while most of the muscle I built faded and fat increased.

What prompted you to join the Sleekgeek 8-Week Challenge?

Definitely health concerns. I was getting headaches on a daily basis, developing stomach ulcers, felt week and then started having pains in my back caused by my liver. The doctor then recommended I eat a healthier diet.

My wife was quite active at the time and was going to join the challenge herself, I knew I had to do something about my health anyway and thought the challenge would be a great way to push myself.

Give us a quick overview of the nutrition and eating plan that you followed during the challenge.

I kept things very simple, the goal with my diet was to keep my body in a calory deficit, eating frequent, small and healthy meals to keep my metabolism working and not starving my body while doing HIT cardio once a day.

I did not follow any certain diet, do calory counting or macros. I only focussed on eating meals that were healthy and low in calories. I mainly ate foods like (Blueberries, oats, provitas, cracker bread, rice cakes, peanut butter, honey, biltong, steak, ham, pepperoni, brown rice, mince, chicken fillets and protein bars (when I had a sweet tooth))

Give us a quick overview of the training and exercise plan that you followed during the challenge.

• x25 Star Jumps
• x25 Run on the spot
• x10 Burpies
• 60sec Plank / x25 Situps / x25 Leg Raises / x25 Situps / 60sec Plank (Switch this up between every circuit)
  *I started off only doing 1 of these circuits a day and worked my way up to 5 a day (Trying to increase the number of circuits I do every week)

If you could give 3 pieces of advice to future challengers, what would they be?

1. It’s simple, but not easy. Mindset is very important, focus on your diet and exercise.
2. There is no one diet better than another one (there is no magic diet) or any magic pills or protein shake, focus on diet and exercise.

Why should people enter the challenge?

The challenge will definitely help you to just start, if you are procrastinating and also keep you focussed and motivated during the process to do your best for your after photos. The Sleekgeek team also provides you with a lot of resources, help and tips to help you reach your goal.

Want to be our next Success Story?

We run 3 challenges a year only – New Year, Winter and Summer.

Why can’t it be your chance to shine? Why can’t you be our next success story? Only one way to find out!

 The Sleekgeek 8-Week Transformation Challenge will give you the  focus,  support, and  tools that you need to stay on track and achieve amazing results.

The winners walk away with some incredible prizes worth R100,000!

You also get an accountability check-in system, brand new home workouts, nutrition plans, toolkits, printables, videos, email series, bonus resources, expert tips and more. – all online! You can find out more about how Sleekgeek’s 8-Week Transformation Challenge works over at www.sleekgeek.co.za/challenge